Composition : 92,5% silver, 7,5% copper with a 24-karat gold-plated inner core
Mintage : 39,768

Matron of the Ice

Immense... pristine... untamed... the polar bear personifies the land it calls home - Canada. The largest nonaquamic carnivore in the world, its strength and sheer size command respect - and with seemingly humanbehaviour, Nanuk is highly revered by Inuit society. Indeed, the ability of the solitary animal to thrive in one of the harshest environements in the world fills one with awe and wonder. Even more surprising perhaps is the fact that the polar bear is classified as a marine mammal because its primary habitat is the frozen sea ice and its survival depends almost exclusively on the seals that swim below it.

This ice dweller also dispels another common notion - that all bears hibernate during the winter. Only the female polar bear maintains this practice and she does so in order to nurse her young during their first four months of life. Usually two cubs are born, each weighing less than a kilogram (1 to 1,5 lb.). Full grown, a male polar bear can wigh up to 650 kg (1,500+ lb.) and will remain part of the Arctic landscape for some twenty years.

This coin is the third issue of the commemorative silver 2-dollar collection.
The first coin of the serie, released in 1996, commemorates the Introduction of the 2$ coin.
The second coin of the serie, released in 1999, commemorates the Formation of Nunavut.
The third coin of the serie, released in 2000, depicts the Path of Knowledge.

PATH OF KNOWLEDGE - 2000 CANADIAN COINS is categorised COINS AND PAPER MONEY / 08- ROYAL CANADIAN MINT / 01- STERLING SILVER and sold by l'Imaginaire, a store and specialised website.